Getting Back to His Roots

By AIMEE TABOR, atabor@thehawkeye.com
Friday, May 26, 2006
Burlington Hawkeye

Republican presidential candidate John Cox wants to shake up the status quo in Washington, with a four-point plan designed to address the country's needs and get the GOP back to its roots. Cox's plan addresses national security, taxing and spending, immigration control and defending values. "I'm talking about bringing this party back," Cox said during a Thursday visit to Burlington.

Cox, a millionaire from Chicago, said he supports President George W. Bush's policies on the war on terrorism and pointed out the successes from the tax cuts the president approved.
"Our tax revenue is up by 13 percent," Cox said. "That's a huge increase, and we did it because the tax cuts revived the economy." Cox, however, said there are areas that need improvement. He said he doesn't agree with the federal No Child Left Behind Act or the Medicare Part D plan. "Government is not the solution to our problems," Cox said, quoting former President Ronald Reagan. "Government is our problem."

Cox said voters should elect him rather than a career politician, because he has experience in business, accounting and charity work and has been active on the political fringe since the age of 12. Cox said the country should move to a national sales tax and get rid of the Internal Revenue Service. "I think that will unleash an economic boom like we've never seen," Cox said. Cox said he would work to control spending. "They've been spending like drunken sailors," Cox said. Cox said the solution to the country's immigration woes is simple.
"Just enforce the law," he said. If an employer hires an illegal immigrant to work at his business, federal law calls for a fine of $10,000, Cox said. The 12 million immigrants in the country illegally should return home and wait their turns, Cox said, stressing that over time everyone will be allowed to come to the U.S. if they follow the law and fill out the proper paperwork. "We're going to do it right and according to the law," Cox said.

Cox said the country also needs to build on its moral values, not bend them. He's against abortion and said too many people view it as the easy way out. Cox also believes in free trade and said the country should be able to ship goods to other countries just as easily as they can ship to the U.S. Cox plans to visit 85 of Iowa's 99 counties by Monday and said he will visit area Republicans before the 2008 presidential election.